It Isn't Bedtime
by AfricanDaisy
Summary: Little Neldiel tries her father's patience and pushes him too far for the first time. The results are not to her liking. WARNINGS: This story contains only OCs and spanking of a child. Please do not read if you do not like either of these things.


Eleven coronarí old Neldiel was a good girl, or so said her loving father. True, she often had a mischievous light in her blue-green eyes, and true, she had enjoyed throwing tantrums not that long ago. But those were just stages, Lord Brandir said, to the disbelief of his other daughters. They remembered quite well what he had said, or not said, when they had gone through those 'stages'. Clearly, Neldiel was the favourite, even though she hadn't been the much longed for son. They didn't really mind too much though, not even Tadiel, who was in her early adolescence, for they doted on their baby sister. But it was only a matter of time, the elder daughters of Brandir and Siliveth knew, just a matter of time before their father finally lost his patience.

Now, it was early one evening in summer, and Neldiel was sitting on the floor of Brandir's study, singing as she played with her doll whilst her father worked at his desk. The doll was one of her favourites. Her youngest uncle loved to travel to far off places, and the last time he had returned from one of his jaunts, he had brought her a doll with olive coloured skin, and eyes that were ever so dark. Having never before seen skin that was not pale, Neldiel was fascinated by the doll. The rest of the family had been more interested to know where Baralin's travels had taken him; his response to his elder sister, Siliveth, and their parents, had been, "You really don't want to know. No, trust me. You don't want to know".

"That is very nice singing, iel-nín," Brandir said, after a little while, "but now it is time for you and your doll to take yourselves off to bed." His youngest daughter looked up and smiled at him, and shook her dark head back and forth. Raising an eyebrow at her, he said firmly, "Bedtime."

"No."

"Yes, Neldiel."

"No, Ada."

Setting his quill down atop his unfinished work, Brandir got up and swept the elfling and her doll into his arms, and carried them both from the study. Wordlessly, he took them upstairs to the night nursery, whilst Neldiel wriggled and squirmed as much as the strong arms around her little body allowed her to. "Ada, no," she repeated. "It's not bedtime. It isn't."

"It most certainly is. You are going to bed right this instant, Neldiel Brandiriel, so not another word out of you," Brandir replied shortly. As his youngest refused yet again, he veered away from the bed and went instead to the far wall. "If you insist on being so very naughty, you will stand in the corner for five minutes." He set Neldiel down, facing away from him, but she promptly turned back around. "No, little girl. You face the wall."

"I don't want to!" Neldiel wailed. She found herself being firmly planted in the corner again, and held in place; she resisted, tensing up and wriggling and growling under her breath. When she realised that Brandir wasn't going to let go of her, she huffed softly and pouted, but dutifully stood still. This was so unfair, she silently confided to her doll. She could have sworn that Akachi, named in the language of the lands she had come from, rolled her eyes in agreement.

"You will go to bed now," Brandir decreed, after five minutes.

"I'm not sleepy," Neldiel sniffled.

"Nevertheless," the silver haired lord said, carrying his nightgown clad daughter to bed and tucking her in, "you will sleep."

"I can't sleep if I'm not sleepy." Neldiel sighed as her father instructed her to at least try and sleep, and she obediently closed her eyes, only to open them a moment later. "I tried." Unfortunately, Brandir remained unmoved, so the little girl released another heavy sigh and shut her eyes again. This time, she kept them closed for almost ten minutes. Surely that was more than enough time for her father to quietly leave the room, so that she could get out of bed and keep playing. She was surprised, and more than a little annoyed, when she opened her eyes to see Brandir seated next to her bed. "You're still here."

"Yes, I am still here," Brandir agreed.

"Go away," Neldiel scowled. "Then I sleep."

"I am staying here until you fall asleep, little girl, so I suggest you get used to the idea. And don't you look at me that way," Brandir said firmly, in response to his daughter's glower. He frowned as she nodded, and told her severely, "No."

"_Yes_," Neldiel tried to imitate her father's tone.

It was clearly all a big game to the elfling, but Brandir had finally reached the end of his patience, and he plucked her out of bed before she could argue further. "Naughty children who keep defying their parents get their bottoms smacked, Neldiel," he told her sternly, turning her over his lap and tucking up the back of her nightdress. "I have had enough of being disobeyed by you."

As a strong hand cracked down on her bared bottom, Neldiel wailed. It wasn't a particularly hard smack, but it was the first one that she had ever been given, and it sounded sharper than it truly was. "You will not tell me no when I give you instructions," Brandir scolded her, bringing down a second smack atop the first. "Or say yes, you will, when I tell you _not_ to do something." He landed a third swat, his hand easily covering his daughter's bottom, and she sobbed, trying in vain to scramble off his lap. Easily, he kept her from moving.

"You will do as you are told from now on, when you are told to do it, or else you will be spanked," Brandir continued, the fourth smack striking Neldiel's sit spots. "Do you understand?"

"Ada s-stop!" the little girl cried.

"Are you sorry for being naughty?" Brandir asked, stilling his hand. "Are you going to behave?"

"Sorry…sorry, I'm s-sorry…"

The King's loremaster nodded quietly and picked his youngest daughter up, holding her close against his chest. "I do not wish to have to spank you, Neldiel," he said, speaking over the sound of her sobs. They were muffled slightly, for the elfling's face was hidden in Brandir's dark blue robes, but she still sounded heartbroken. "However, if your behaviour is naughty, and if you insist on disobeying me, then that is how it has to be. Now, it is done and you are forgiven, and it is time for you to sleep. I will stay until you are asleep."

"Sorry," Neldiel whispered meekly.

"I know you are sorry," Brandir replied, gentling his tone. "No more sorries now. It's all over with."

Exhausted from her struggles and her tears, Neldiel soon drifted off to sleep in her father's arms, with one of his silver braids clutched in her fist. He carefully removed his hair from her grip once he was sure that he could do so without waking her, and he settled her into bed with her doll tucked under her arm. Already, time that could have been spent on his work for the King had been taken up by his daughter, and really, he should have returned to his study as soon as Neldiel had become compliant and uttered her first 'sorry'. But even so, Brandir sat on the edge of the bed, and watched his child as she slept.

The work could wait.


End file.
